Retractable-roof stadium could help fans beat the heat

Friday, Aug. 24, 2001 | 4:56 a.m.

At Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix fans can enjoy major league baseball in cozy 70-degree conditions while others outside cope with summer temperatures that can pass 110 degrees.

Aided by twin 200-horsepower engines, BOB, as it is affectionately known, moves 9 million pounds of structural steel to create a roof that opens and closes in layers like a telescopic lens. If you take away the roof and the ballpark's air conditioning, attendance at Arizona Diamondbacks games would plummet faster than technology stocks.

"Thank God we have the roof because without it I don't know how many people would come to see a game," said Russ Amaral, vice president of event services for the ballpark. "I don't see how we'd be successful in drawing fans without it."

If Las Vegas city officials are serious about exploring a major league baseball stadium downtown, it would be foolhardy to reject a retractable roof in favor of a less expensive open-air facility, according to Amaral and representatives of the nation's leading stadium-architectural firms.

The first fully enclosed baseball stadium was Houston's Astrodome, which opened in 1965. But since the last dome was built in 1990 to accommodate baseball -- Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. -- permanently enclosed ballparks with artificial turf have fallen out of favor. Fans and players alike want baseball on grass, which is possible with a retractable roof.

"With a rectractable roof you can be all things to all people," said Stuart Smith, spokesman for stadium designer Ellerbe Becket sports division in Kansas City, Mo. "When the Diamondbacks are out of town during the summer, they open the roof back up to let the sun in."

The Houston Astros have moved to Enron Field, which has a retractable roof. The Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners also have opted for movable roofs. The New York Mets and Miami's Florida Marlins are among the teams studying that technology for future ballparks.

What all these cities have in common with Las Vegas is harsh weather at some point during the baseball season, which stretches from April to October and includes 81 home games. Phoenix, with a climate similar to Las Vegas, generally keeps its ballpark roof closed for games from late May through early September. The hottest temperature at Bank One Ballpark last year for a game played in open air was 99 degrees.

"The whole thing is about getting buns in the seats," Dave Orlowski, an Ellerbe Becket principal, said. "You want to make it a comfortable environment so people come back."

In addition to providing comfort during inclement conditions, rectractable- roof stadiums provide versatility during the off-season. Bank One Ballpark also has been used for football and basketball games, as well as monster-truck and motorcycle events.

Rectractable roofs have come a long way since the 1980s, when the Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays introduced the technology to baseball. Montreal's Olympic Stadium roof proved to be an inoperable disaster that eventually was replaced. Toronto's SkyDome fared better and has been a success since 1989.

But in 4 minutes, 20 seconds -- at least five times faster than the SkyDome -- the Bank One Ballpark roof unveiled in 1998 can be opened and closed via a cable pulley system. That comes in handy during sudden downpours.

"They're pretty reliable," Earl Santee, a principal of stadium designer HOK Sport in Kansas City, Mo., said of retractable roofs. "Over time, the roofs have become simpler. They are simple to operate, with less moving parts and less that can go wrong."

The major downside to rectractable roofs is cost. They can add an estimated $50 million to $150 million to a ballpark's price tag.

Should Las Vegas decide to build a major league ballpark, the design firm most likely would be one of four companies: HOK Sport, Ellerbe Becket, NBBJ Sports and Entertainment in Los Angeles and HKS Inc. in Dallas. Combined, they have designed the last 14 big league ballparks, with HOK Sport leading with nine.

The timetable from design to completion is about three years for most ballparks.

Dan Meis, an NBBJ partner who designed Miller Park in Milwaukee and Safeco Field in Seattle, said Las Vegas would be better off with a contemporary stadium rather than a "retro" such as Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

"Las Vegas is about the lights, and it is a modern city," Meis said. "It has to be thought of as an entertainment center. But if you tie it too close to casinos, it might make baseball nervous because the league is sensitive to gambling."

Orlowski also said a contemporary theme would be suitable.

"I definitely think Las Vegas is a progressive city, and a progressive design would be appropriate there," he said.

Ballpark architects are careful not to dictate to cities, however. Santee said it would ultimately be up to city officials and the public to determine the type of ballpark they would like to have.

"To have a preconceived notion about what the ballpark should be is a disadvantage to the community because you want the community to use the ballpark," Santee said. "People will want to know that when they're in the ballpark, they're in Las Vegas. If you don't connect it to the community within two to three years, they'll stop coming."